Children

Yesterday, the meditation was good, the best things is one steps away from rituals and comes face-to-face with the essence. When you meditate, the first question you ask is,'am I a spirit?' If one has a strong gratitude for the nature that humbles with its beauty, it leads for strong love towards the creator. Somewhere in between one is absorbed in a bond that envelops the being with bliss. Nothing to do with the religion, this is a direct and pure realization of self and its source.

In the morning I and Jayani, now she is in second grade, we went out looking for baby plants to grow in empty cans and plastic cups. This is a kind of experiment. As I am reading this book and trying to adopt to some practices that Gandhi Ji suggested to his followers, what I am testing is-what are reactions of small children to these practices. I am encouraging an hour of physical labour in any form and it is well received. While Animesh, who is in ninth grade and a fourteen-year-old laughs at my suggestion and says " there were other freedom fighters too, there is nothing so great about Gandhi." Well, Jayu understands now when I talk to her about limiting our consumption as we both dig the soil and she appreciates that Mother Earth is giving us all that we have. As we dig, I ask her to feel the soil and explain tat this is where all the life dissolves. She smiles and asks, will God bless me for planting new plants, to this I say, yes the creator feels happy when he sees life being cared for, she understands.

I stumble at every step, but at least this is a beginning of introspection. Guess the best way is to take small steps, these help in creating momentum and inclination towards small changes. Right now I am nearing the chapter when Gandhi is assassinated. He is informed about a riot that is about to begin as the Sikhs are heading towards the Panipat to revenge for the atrocities they suffered as refugees leaving Pakistan. As Gandhi steps into the crowd brandishing swords and knives, enraged people ask if it was his wife who was raped and his children who were killed. He says, yes their women where his women and their children were his. He begs them to stop the Muslims from leaving for Pakistan and to embrace them.

What kind of conviction this man had to never care for his life and walk into most dangerous situations. He read books like Bible and Geeta and whatever he saw, he immediately put it to practice and when he found that it was an answer to how humans should achieve peace and love, he suggested it. Will try and share whatever I am able to grasp with my limited understanding. Blessings all...